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By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, December 6, 2024
Photo credit: Kate Green/Getty for LTA
Aiming to amplify her athleticism and strengthen her body, Emma Raducanu has hired a noted fitness coach.
The 22-year-old Raducanu has hired fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura, the BBC’s Russell Fuller reports. Nakamura formerly worked with Grand Slam champions Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka.
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World No. 58 Raducanu has been plagued by surgery and injury since her inspired run to the 2021 US Open championship where she made history as the first qualifier, male or female, to capture a Grand Slam singles crown.
Raducanu, who fell to Sofia Kenin in the US Open first round, reached quarterfinals in two of her last three tournaments of 2024.
The BBC reports Raducanu has been training with her team—coach Nick Cavaday and Nakamura— have been training this week in London at the National Tennis Centre in preparation for her 2025 opener in Auckland.
Raducanu, who turned 22 on November 13th, said Nakamura will travel with her most weeks of the year. She’s hopeful the work they do together will help her stay healthier and impose her athleticism on court.
“I think he is going to help me just really explore how far I can go, like athletically,” Raducanu told BBC’s Russell Fuller. “I think it’s a big strength of mine that I have nowhere near fulfilled. I think I can become one of the best athletes out there in tennis and I’m just looking forward to seeing how much I can do.
“My natural athleticism is something that I have to use. I have to hone it, I have to polish it, it’s still pretty raw and I don’t think anywhere near fully developed so he’s going to help me explore that.”
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